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In Oakland I had a lot of people cutting my hair. I can’t remember paying more than a pack of cigarettes to trade for services rendered. I got some pretty good haircuts from my friend Kara Joslyn, she’d spend 4 hours on it every cut, which was nice for a free haircut, but tedious when you’re trying not to fall asleep while she’s trimming around your ears. After that, my friend Monica Canilao (pictured above) cut my hair for website services. I think she was the best because she’d bake me tator tots for after the haircut. She had this pair of old fabric scissors that she’d drag across my head. The pain was intoxicating. The sound of hair ripping gave me chills, and I can’t get a razor cut anymore without asking if they might have a duller blade somewhere.

When I moved to New York, I was shocked that no one was offering me haircuts for cigarettes. With New York cigarette prices, I can’t say it’d be much of a deal. So I went to this place that a friend was working at, his name was Brian, and I’m not going to say where, but he raped my head with his sleazy scissors, and charged me 190 dollars for a bowl cut and a salon phobia. I eventually found some guy named Wesley at Kropps and Bobbers, and he did an amazing job, but at 90 dollars, it was no steal.

Now back in Los Angeles, I dreaded finding a place to get my hair chopped. I’ve been going to Rudy’s on Sunset, for a 24 dollar haircut that looks like it cost me 40, or the Vidal Sassoon school, which i’m still a little scared of. And though I’m happy with the reasonable priced chops here, I’m still sad that the barter barber scene doesn’t extend much outside of Oakland. I got a haircut in Portland once, and they gave me a free pabst while I got my hair snipped. Its those little gestures that make an experience. So if anyone in Los Angeles wants take a crack at my head, I’m ready and willing. And if you want some money, make sure you have some tator tots and a PBR waiting for me.

This entry (Permalink) was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.